Summit’s fate unknown, but here comes the bourbon

A whole lot of whiskey is making its way to Washington, and organizers say they’re hoping it prompts President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to finally hold their much-anticipated “bourbon summit.”

McConnell and bipartisan members of the Kentucky delegation are expected to welcome a custom, 42-gallon white oak barrel filled with a mixture of some of the finest Kentucky-made bourbons, when it arrives via a so-called “Bourbon Express” bus at the Willard Hotel in the nation’s capital on Tuesday night.

{mosads}The bourbon-filled celebration is made possible by the nonprofit Kentucky Distillers’ Association and the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship, a nonpartisan civic education group that teaches high school and college students about the work of Clay, known as “The Great Compromiser” for his time as a senator and Speaker of the House.

According to the Clay Center, the Bluegrass State lawmaker used to ship barrels brimming with bourbon to the Willard Hotel each time he traveled to Washington to aid him in his diplomatic efforts.

“This is really about taking all the talk about a bourbon summit between Sen. McConnell and the president, and making it happen — it’s aimed to try to do that,” Clay Center board member Mac Riley told ITK.

After Republicans won control of the Senate in November’s midterm elections, Obama said he would “enjoy having some Kentucky bourbon” with McConnell. The lawmaker mentioned the possibility of a boozy meeting in an interview last month: “Well, I think it will happen. The people in the industry in our state are sure hoping it’s going to happen.”

While a source told us that the “highest level of the Secret Service” had inquired about the bourbon event, a presidential drop-in does not appear on Obama’s daily public schedule.

Whether there’s a commander in chief cameo or not, Clay Center Co-chairman Robert Clay, a distant cousin of the one-time secretary of State, said in a statement, “Re-enactment of Henry Clay’s delivery of a barrel of Kentucky Bourbon to Washington, and its reception by the Majority Leader, are meant to remind America’s youth and today’s leaders of the value of dialogue, negotiation and compromise to the effective functioning of government at every level.”

Riley says the arrival of the Kentucky staple will ideally get McConnell and Obama in the spirit for a bourbon summit — and at least the beverages will be taken care of: “We’re trying to provide a congenial forum for this [summit] to actually happen in a fun way and in a festive way.”